When Others Curry Favor

Turning the last corner on his way to his boss's office, Matt heard laughter, and he instantly knew that Robert was again working on Will. He paused and took a breath, but when he turned into the doorway and looked into Will's office, he was hurt by what he saw.

Robert was in Will's chair, at Will's desk. Robert looked at Will as if to say "Up to you."

"Excuse me," Matt said to Will. "I can come back."

Will turned to Matt. "No, come in, come in," he said.

'So it's come this far,' Matt thought. 'Robert sitting at Will's desk, telling Will what to do and what to think.'

"It's OK," Matt said. "I'll be back after lunch. No problem." He turned and left, but he knew there was a problem.

When a peer curries favor with your boss, your options are limited. Before you act, think carefully.

Time is short

The current favorite has probably been working on your boss for longer than you know. If you're considered a threat, you've been targeted. And for aggressive operators, truth is no constraint.

Unless something changes, your current job probably won't last.

Assess the competition

Those who curry favor are usually well practiced. They expect their peers to respond somehow, and they're probably ready for all the obvious or typical counter-tactics.

Know their level of expertise. Unless you can deal with their tactics, taking direct action could further jeopardize your tenure.

Don't respond in writing

Writing, either
electronic or hardcopy,
is dangerous

Writing, either electronic or hardcopy, is dangerous. Pretend that you've been given an organizational Miranda warning: Anything you put in writing could be used against you.

Email can be especially risky. If you do take action, do so in person.

If you act, expect a response

Responses to your actions might be difficult to handle. The boss might feel accused of favoritism. The current favorites will likely defend their positions. Others on the sidelines might view your action as an attempt to become the new favorite.

Choose actions that take account of these risks.

Open your mind, not your mouth

Keep an open mind about what you see happening around you. The really effective operators are so clever that they're very hard to detect. They can curry favor with you at the same time that they do with your boss.

Trusting the wrong person can be a serious mistake — one I've made myself.

If the favorites are making headway, the boss is partly responsible. Possibly the boss knows what's happening and chooses to play along, or your peers are exploiting a vulnerability that the boss cannot control.

The situation is unstable in either case. If you manage to restore fairness, and the boss remains in place, a recurrence is likely. Any progress you make has to be considered temporary, until you can permanently discredit the favorite. Consider moving on.

All this can be hard to hear, I know. I can say it only because I'm not trying to curry favor with you.  Top    Next Issue

Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info

According to The Dictionary of Word Origins (Joseph T. Shipley. Published by Rowman & Littlefield, 1967), the original expression was not to "curry favor," but to curry favel. In medieval times, Favel was used as the name of a horse. The etymology is complex but fascinating. Check it out. Order from Amazon.com

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Workplace Politics:

A Critique of Criticism: I

Whether we call it "criticism" or "feedback," the receiver can sometimes experience pain, even when the giver didn't intend harm. How does this happen? What can givers of feedback do to increase the chance that the receiver hears the giver's message without experiencing pain?

Telephonic Deceptions: I

People have been deceiving each other at work since the invention of work. Nowadays, with telephones ever-present, telephonic deceptions are becoming more creative. Here's Part I of a handy guide for telephonic self-defense.

Multi-Expert Consensus

Some working groups consist of experts from many fields. When they must reach a decision by consensus, members have several options. Defining those options in advance can help the group reach a decision with all its relationships intact.

Projection Deception

Practitioners of the dark side of workplace politics are skilled in the art of deception. One technique involves exploiting psychological projection on the part of the person deceived.

Clouted Thinking

When we say that people have "clout" we mean that they have more organizational power or social influence than most others do. But when people with clout try to use it in realms beyond those in which they've earned it, trouble looms.

See also Workplace Politics, Managing Your Boss and Ethics at Work for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming May 15: Should I Write or Should I Call?

After we recognize the need to contact a colleague or colleagues to work out a way to move forward, we next must decide how to make contact. Phone? Videoconference? Text message? There are some simple criteria that can help with such decisions. Available here and by RSS on May 15.

And on May 22: Rescheduling Collaborative Work

Rescheduling is what we do when the schedule we have now is so desperately unachievable that we must let go of it because when we look at it we can no longer decide whether to laugh or cry. The fear is that the new schedule might come to the same end. Available here and by RSS on May 22.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info